


The Names that Make Us

by Verilidaine



Series: Guardians of the Galaxy Vignettes [2]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Family argument resolves quickly ish, Gen, Like Really Really Squint, M/M, Mentions of bestiality as an undesirable option, Rocket/Yondu if you squint, Sterilization, Swearing, mentions of past torture/abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 08:11:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11032167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Verilidaine/pseuds/Verilidaine
Summary: Peter actually does go too far with an insult, and Rocket reveals more than he meant to.  Or, the author got this random conversation bunny stuck in her head and had to write it down.  Takes place in the same universe as Come A Little Bit Closer.





	The Names that Make Us

When even Kraglin had given him a shocked look, Peter knew he’d gone too far.    
  
_“Yeah, well, what kind of a stupid name is Star-Lord, anyway?”_  
  
Rocket knew it was a sore spot, and he shouldn’t have used it in a fight.  
  
_“It’s a heck of a lot better than Subject 89P13!”_  
  
But then, Peter really shouldn’t have gone _there._    
  
So now, under threat of whatever Gamora decided was a fitting punishment, he was trying to find the sneakiest member of their family in a ship with too many places for him to hide.  
  
“Rocket?  Rocket!”  Peter looked around the shop where Rocket spent most of his time since everything had happened.  “Come on, Rocket.  Just hear me out.”  
  
Silence answered him.  Peter waited another beat, then turned to try the next room.  Just before he was through the door, he heard a panel sliding back, then, “Quill.”  
  
Peter turned around.  Rocket was dropping down from the ceiling panels that he’d pushed aside.  The raccoon landed on the floor, re-adjusted his suit, and looked up at Peter with his arms crossed.  
  
“Dude, I am so sorry,” Peter said.  “I know that--”  
  
“You _know?”_ Rocket interrupted.  “You know.  Well now _that’s_ rich, isn’t it.  Quill the great Star-Lord _knows_ something.”  He gestured around the empty room.  “Hey, everyone!  Quill knows something!”  
  
“Stop being such a dick, I am _trying_ to apologize here--”  
  
“Do you have _any_ idea what that name is?” Rocket hissed, his tail bristling.  
  
“Look, if it makes you feel better, I’ve been tripping over vines all day.  Groot’s been following me around leaving them...”  He trailed off.  Rocket didn’t look impressed.  “Yeah, I know what it is.”  
  
“So what is it, _genius?_ ”  
  
“It’s your--your experiment name,” Peter said.  “I get it, okay?  I shouldn’t have gone there.  I get it.”  
  
If anything, Rocket looked even more pissed off.  “You _get_ it?” he demanded.  “That’s the name they tortured me under!  Those are the names they used to make us believe we weren’t even _people_ , because bio-tech is less expensive to upkeep than a robot, but only if it believes it isn’t a person!  Oh and also?”  
  
“Rocket--”  
  
Rocket took a step forward with a growl.  “You know what else it is?”  
  
“ _Rocket--_ ”  
  
“It’s my _legal_ name, asshole!  Subject 89P13!” Rocket waved an arm at the empty room, gesturing to an unseen audience.  “Every time I got arrested, every time we go through customs, every _single, fucking time_ we register on a new world I have to say, ‘Yep!  That’s it!  Subject 89P13!’  And by the way, when I say ‘it’ I mean that too, because apparently being sterilized because of illegal experimentation means you don’t even get a _gender!_ ”  
  
Peter stared, mouth falling open but no words coming out.  Rocket’s teeth were bared in a snarl and his fists were clenched and shaking, chest heaving with every breath, tail held up and bristling.  “Rocket...”  
  
Rocket growled on his next exhale, then his hands unclenched.  He turned his head to the side, looking much smaller than he had just one moment before, and brought one arm up across his front to grip the other.  “Please don’t ... tell anyone.”  
  
Peter swallowed.  “You can change your legal name, you know,” he said, searching for anything to say.  
  
“Maybe _you_ can!” Rocket barked.  “I can’t.  You think I haven’t tried that?  Want to know what my application said on it when the rejection came back?”  He glared at Peter.  “No guesses?  Huh?  ‘ _Insufficient personhood_.’  They don’t even consider me a _person_.”  
  
Peter felt the anger flush into his face.  “That’s fucked up, dude.  Look, I’ll put a call in to Nova Prime, I’m sure...”  
  
Rocket’s slicing look silenced him.  “I don’t need your help, Quill.  I don’ t _want_ your help.  If you call Nova Prime and all of a sudden I’m a person, it still means they don’t think _I’m_ a person, it means _you’re_ a person and they’re just doing you a favor.”  
  
Peter didn’t have an answer to that.  
  
Rocket regarded him with narrowed eyes.  “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”  
  
Peter could only nod.  He carefully lowered himself down to the floor, settling there a few feet away from Rocket.  “I am sorry,” he said.  “I shouldn’t have called you that.  It _was_ too far.”  
  
“Yeah, well.”  Rocket sat next to him.  “I know a thing or two about saying things I don’t mean.”  He cringed.  “Like blurting out things I never meant to tell anyone just because I’m pissed off.”  
  
Peter looked at him.  “I won’t tell anyone.”  
  
Rocket scratched behind his ear.  “Thanks.”  He sighed, and looked like he was thinking about whether or not to continue.  “Not like it matters,” he finally said.  “Only way I’d be able to procreate would be to fuck an animal, and since that really isn’t my idea of a good time...”  
  
“Yeah, but...”  
  
Rocket shrugged.  “I know I’m a hybrid freak, that’s my trade-off for getting to exist.  And I’d make a lousy parent.”  
  
“Not true,” Peter said.  “You do a great job with Groot.”  
  
Rocket snorted.  “I’m not his parent.”  
  
Peter just looked at him, and Rocket looked back, then his eyes widened.  “Oh my god.”  
  
“It’s a trip for learning about fatherhood, apparently,” Peter said with a sigh.    
  
Rocket’s ears flicked up, then he cringed.  “Apparently it is.”  
  
“So ... think you could come tell Groot to stop tripping me?” Peter asked.  
  
“I dunno, Quill, you kind of deserve it.”  
  
“I mean, sorta.”  
  
“Make you a deal,” Rocket said, standing up.  He adjusted his suit again, never looking fully comfortable in it.  “You get me the song about dancing with José’s girl and I’ll tell Groot to stop tripping you.”  
  
Peter gave him a look.  “Why that song?”  
  
“Mind your own business, Quill,” Rocket said.  “That’s my deal.  Can you get it or not?”  
  
“Yeah I can get it,” Peter said.  “Fine, deal.”  
  
“And obviously you never use that name again, or I’ll shoot your fricking face off.”  
  
Peter started to protest out of habit, then nodded.  “That’s fair.”  
  
“Damn right it is.”  
  
Rocket started to walk past him, then Peter shifted, and reached out to touch his arm.  Rocket whirled on him with bristling fur and a snarl.  Peter just looked at him, and after a moment, Rocket settled.    
  
“Sorry,” he muttered.  “Habit.”  
  
“I get it,” Peter said.  “Just wanted to say ... I’m glad, that you told me.  I’m here if you ever want to talk.  About anything.”  
  
Rocket’s ears pricked up, and for a moment, his eyes showed the vulnerability that Peter was starting to realize was always hidden there.  Then Rocket rolled his eyes.  “Don’t ruin it by being a sap, Quill.”  
  
Peter smirked.  “Whatever you say, you furry freak.”  
  
“Hairless imbecile.”    
  
Peter got up to his feet and started to walk out with Rocket.  “Trash panda.”  
  
“Pink monkey.”  
  
“Junk burglar.”  
  
“Fleshy moron...”  
  
As they walked by, Gamora narrowed her eyes as she tried to decide what the mood was.  After a moment of listening to the insults, she smiled and shook her head, and let them be.


End file.
